I'd of blown the scoundrel up
Watch his head and heart hiccup
Erupt in tinsel and blue cinders
turn August into winter

It hadn't felt like this in a long, long time. Claustrophobic, nothing but darkness and crystalline walls pressing in from every side imaginable. Of course, back then it'd been much, MUCH smaller. Now it was no challenge to punch through the dark blue crystal that encased it. It spilled out in a pool of fluid, oil, and gemstone shards into a room littered with chrysalises broken and whole alike.

Something changed. Something's wrong.

It should've expected the changes. Those were it's 'rewards,' after all. But it's body was all too heavy and the wrong shape. It's flippers were twisted into claws, it's body weighed down by a multitude of new spikes, a new tail fin dragged along the ground. It sat in a semi-upright position, just... acclimating to all of it.

Once it was as adjusted as it'd get just sitting on the floor, it'd heft itself up to it's feet. It walked in circles around it's shattered chrysalis, getting used to weight and size of it's new spikes, carrying it's tail so the fin didn't drag too much. It did a couple test-swipes at the air with it's flipper-turned-claws, testing the reach and feel of the altered limbs. It- albeit with a couple tries- managed to pick up one of the larger chunks of it's Labradorite chrysalis.

It wasn't sure when Khavur had hatched during all of it, how much of it's experimenting with it's new form it had seen. It shouldn't have felt embarrassed, but for some odd reason it did. It felt exposed. It'd turn to Khavur, looking for the changes, the improvements, and found.. nothing. No extra spikes, or claws, or even glowing markings. Had it gotten any of Farina's 'gifts' at all? Had it been deemed unworthy, or too perfect to change?

All it said was "Are you ready to swim to the surface?"

@Khavur Woo! Finally!

Khavur was sick of spending time in chrysalises. You would be too if you missed four whole cycles of life trapped in one. There was one upside to it however: an oilstone cluster big enough to fit a Khavur inside was immensely cool, and watching it crack open and burst was even cooler.

The oilstone chamber crumbled like the walls of a once-great tower, revealing the slumbering sentinel inside. The leftovers fell to the ocean floor, pollution for others to find, perhaps clean, perhaps even use.

The very first thing it did was look for the labradorite. Green pillow pet cat be confounded, family came first! Except... upon finding them, the Reaver realized that the labradorite looked even more alien than before. Claws, spikes, tain fin. Khavur quickly checked its own body, only to find... nothing.

What games was Master Farina playing?

Questions of worth, worthiness and the like faded into the background with a single question. Khavur was astonished that Labradorite-One had even spoken. And after all that, after everything, that was all they said? Guess Khavur wasn't used to being around other, more lawful Chaos Forge members outside of the Chaos Forge. It nodded its affirmation, and up they went.

It was a long, long way up. Khavur still needed to wear the Enchanted equipment for breathing... so it hadn't even been granted gills? Upon clambering back onto the surface, the Reaver sat down, caught its breath, fought the urge to sleep again, and resumed its chosen task of just... staring at the labradorite. "Watching over them", I suppose, but it was more just trying to think of what to say.

When it finally thought of something, anything, it tried to open the mouth of its large-horned head, and... venom.

Neurotoxic. Horribly deadly in large doses. Just gushing away, dribbling down its chin!

It left Khavur rather shellshocked, unable to get itself to move... so it just stood there, jaws agape, leaking venom like some kind of hellish faucet. (It probably looked very silly.)

@V-Labradorite-One

I'd of blown the scoundrel up
Watch his head and heart hiccup
Erupt in tinsel and blue cinders
turn August into winter

It was relieved Khavur did not attempt conversation. After the whole fight, it had avoided Khavur and really, anyone else (except for Zoisite) who had been involved. It hadn't been looking forward to the 'reunion' and, seemingly (hopefully) Khavur didnt seem too eager to reconnect.

The swim up was far more difficult than the swim down. It wasn't nearly as streamlined- the spines breaking up it's one sleek form. The tailfin and paddle-hands should've helped, but as it was it had absolutely zero idea how to use them. It felt like it was flailing, a fish out of water in the bottom of the sea. Land was a relief, if only because of being able to escape the embarrassment.

It stared at the water. Looking for fish, but it doubted anything lingered long after two titanic chaos-beasts has come floundering up from the depths. It was hungry, after so long in a chrysalis and the journey up. And, it needed to get used to all of its changes. Farina wouldn't gift it something that would hinder it, would she? It just needed to adapt to this new form.

The moment seemingly buckets of drool suddenly poured from Khavurs mouth, it tensed. Trying it's best not to scramble backwards, it took a couple steps back, gaze flickering from the puddle to Khavur and back again. Khavur didn't seem to be aggressive- really, it seemed as confused as Labradorite itself. It relaxed, slightly. What was that? It certainly was oil, like it had seen certain corrupted members of the forge (and itself, but it was pretty sure it was an unusual exception) coughing up. Maybe it had accidentally swallowed water during the swim to the surface? Or was that simply an insane amount of spit it had suddenly, spontaneously produced?

What is that? A beat, and then, "Are you alright?"

@Khavur